Archive:

Day: October 18, 2016

Why do some Albanians hate the 500 year of Ottoman rule but no hate against Roman and Byzantine rule which was more than 800 years?

By: | Post date: 2016-10-18 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: History, Mediaeval Greek

Hello. Neighbour here. I know Greeks’ opinion on this question might not be welcome, but it’s reminded me of a very similar question: Why do Greeks (fairly unanimously) hate the 500 years of Ottoman rule but no hate against Venetian rule which was 400–600 years? You could argue rather convincingly that Venetian rule in the […]

What is the oldest Greek New Testament manuscript and how was it written?

By: | Post date: 2016-10-18 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Literature, Mediaeval Greek

In the world of scholarly consensus, the earliest fragment of a Greek New Testament gospel is Rylands Library Papyrus P52, containing a few lines of the Gospel of John, and dating anywhere between 125 and 170 AD. As one might expect, there’s a lot of controversy around the exact date. It’s a fragment of a […]

What is the most beautiful writing system (script)?

By: | Post date: 2016-10-18 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Other Languages, Writing Systems

Originally Answered: What is the most beautiful written script according to you? Armenian. Not because my wife’s Armenian. She doesn’t speak the language. Not because the alphabet’s well-designed. I think all the letters look the same. In fact, precisely because I think all the letters look the same. The results look like this: Beautifully flowing. […]

What if sign language was compulsory in schools in the same way that English, science and maths are?

By: | Post date: 2016-10-18 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Linguistics, Other Languages

Then we’d be properly acknowledging sign language speakers as our fellow citizens. Hell, even exposure once in your schooling would help with that. And I’d be able to borrow my deaf neighbours’ ladder without them them shooing me away because they assume I’m a salesperson. (It happened the once.) Plus, a lot more parents would […]

What do Greeks think of Aristidh Kola (Αριστείδης Κόλλιας)?

By: | Post date: 2016-10-18 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Culture, Modern Greek, Other Languages

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeks I was not aware that he’d died. I was even less aware of the conspiracy theories about his death. I’d come across his books when I was looking at Arvanitika for my linguistics thesis. (My stuff on Balkan language contact ended up left out of the thesis, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to […]

How does the character of Nasreddin Hodja change across different Muslim countries?

By: | Post date: 2016-10-18 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Culture, Modern Greek

Greeks got him from Turks; he’s much bigger, I noticed, in Cyprus than in Greece. I don’t know enough to compare with Nasreddin in Muslim countries, but in Greek accounts he’s a promulgator of often absurdist folk wisdom. “The argument over the mattress” is a journalistic cliché in Greece. The argument over the mattress? Glad […]